The Ukrainian Weekly 2004, No.33
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www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• Ukraine’s elections and “administrative resources” — page 2. • Soccer star Andriy Shevchenko speaks with The Weekly — page 9. • Special section on Ukrainian American Veterans — pages 11-14. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXII HE KRAINIANNo. 33 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2004 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine Long-awaited reactor No. 2 T U YushchenkoW accuses state militia at Khmelnytskyi goes on line of secretly tracking his movements by Roman Woronowycz ularly in the construction of a new shelter at by Roman Woronowycz rity operations. Recall the film footage of Kyiv Press Bureau the Chornobyl power plant; for the comple- Kyiv Press Bureau the assassination of President [John] tion of the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear Kennedy. That was part of a police secu- KYIV – The controversial, newly con- power plants; as well as construction of KYIV – Presidential candidate Viktor rity operation, but it was a failure in that structed No. 2 nuclear reactor at high-voltage transmission lines; and finally, Yushchenko on August 10 accused the instance,” explained the spokesman for Khmelnytskyi was finally commissioned on completion of the Dnister hydroelectric state militia of secretly tracking him. The the Crimean division of the Ministry of August 8 during a ceremony attended by plant,” explained Mr. Kuchma in an address charge came after members of his cam- Internal Affairs during an ICTV news President Leonid Kuchma. after the start-up command was issued dur- paign team caught individuals with program. After giving the official command that ing the Khmelnytskyi ceremony. sophisticated camera equipment photo- Meanwhile Serhii Kivalov, head of the brought Ukraine’s newest, most modern and He said that, in the end, Ukraine “had not graphing Mr. Yushchenko as he ascended Central Election Committee, said on ostensibly safest atomic power plant on line received a kopiyka for the completion of the Ay Petri, the highest peak in the Crimean August 11 that he had yet to receive a at noon on August 8, the president again crit- power units, transmission lines, not to men- Mountains. complaint from the campaign team of icized the West, and particularly the Group tion the Dnister hydroelectric project.” Mr. Yushchenko, a mountain climbing Mr. Yushchenko on the matter. He noted The G-7 had given the European Bank of 7 most economically advanced countries, enthusiast, was on the mountain in con- that he had sent a list of the registered for Reconstruction and Development the for failing to extend needed credits to junction with the ecological program presidential candidates to the Ministry of Ukraine to complete the project, which task of developing the necessary programs “Clean Up Ukraine” that is part of his to help fulfill the conditions of the agree- Internal Affairs recently asking that secu- Ukraine finally did so on its own. presidential campaign message. Earlier rity be provided for all candidates, with Ukraine had requested money to help fin- ment to close Chornobyl as it was spelled this year, the presidential candidate had out in the memorandum signed in 1995. The their consent. ish the second reactor at Khmelnytskyi (K2), climbed the country’s highest peak, EBRD attached strict demands for energy Mr. Yushchenko said his people had as well as the fourth reactor at the Rivne Hoverlia, located in the Carpathian reform and the privatization of the energy apprehended three men who had been nuclear plant (R4), in a deal struck with the Mountains, to promote the ecological shadowing him for some time and dis- sector as conditions for receiving the loans. program. G-7 in 1995 whose central focus was the As the K2R4 project ground to a stand- covered in their possession a directional The Ministry of Internal Affairs did closing of the Chornobyl nuclear power still over the lack of reforms in Ukraine’s microphone, radios, video cameras and a plant in 1999. not deny that state militia officers had videocassette showing the presidential “We were solemnly promised aid, partic- (Continued on page 3) been following the Yushchenko candidate during a visit with his family in entourage. It claimed during a press con- the Crimean city of Sevastopol. The car ference in Symferopol that the officers in which the three men had driven con- had been acting as a security detail for tained 12 Ukrainian license plates with A send-off for Ukraine’s Olympians the presidential candidate. However Mr. various numbers. Yushchenko said he had not approved The men failed to adequately explain any such security detail. what they were doing, according to Iryna “In the United States, too, police film presidents and candidates as part of secu- (Continued on page 17) EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Yanukovych speaks on his candidacy and plans by Roman Woronowycz leader Viktor Yushchenko, the head of Kyiv Press Bureau the Our Ukraine political bloc, in the race for the presidential seat. A survey Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych of voters by the polling firm. Ukrainian declared his intention to run for presi- Sociological Service showed that Mr. dent after he received the backing of Yushchenko, who headed the govern- President Leonid Kuchma in the sec- ment of Ukraine in 2000-2001, would ond part of 2003. On July 3 he official- win the election if it were held today by ly was registered as a candidate. a margin of 38 percent to 26 percent Mr.Yanukovych was appointed to over Mr. Yanukovych. head the Ukrainian government by Mr. The following is an exclusive inter- Kuchma on November 21, 2002, view with Mr.Yanukovych, conducted becoming the 10th prime minister of in the prime minister’s office in the Aleksandr Sinitsa/UNIAN Ukraine since independence was Cabinet of Ministers Building on KYIV – A couple of thousand people gathered on Independence Square in declared in August 1991. August 5. Kyiv on August 10 for a gala send-off for the 243 athletes who comprise Previously, Mr. Yanukovych was chairman of the Donetsk Oblast, over- Mr. Yanukovych, in your opinion, Ukraine’s Olympic team as they prepared to leave for the 28th Olympic why should Ukrainians vote for you? Games, which were to begin in Athens on August 13. The team will be com- seeing its revival as a leading econom- Is it a matter of your experience, your peting in 19 of the 28 events that will make up these Olympics and vying for ic region of the country. He holds a ideas and plans, or perhaps because more than simply the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded the top finish- degree in mechanical engineering from of some special talents you hold? ers. As Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych – who is also president of the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute (today Donetsk State Technical University), National Olympic Committee – noted, that day the Cabinet of Ministers had The voter will vote how his con- which he received in 1980, and a mas- raised the monetary rewards it would present to Ukrainian Olympians captur- science tells him, first of all. Second, ter’s degree in international law from ing the top three spots in their events to $100,000 for a gold medal, $70,000 in my life I never became used to the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign for a silver and $50,000 for a bronze. In previous Olympics, the top monetary someone pressuring me. I have always Trade, awarded in 2001. prize was $50,000 for a gold medal. Ukraine is hoping to finish in the top 15 in been against the application of pres- this year’s Games in Greece and is counting on winning five gold medals. According to nationwide polls, Mr. Yanukovych currently trails opposition (Continued on page 10) – Roman Woronowycz 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2004 No. 33 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Rising abuse of administrative resources NEWSBRIEFS Ukraine starts up new nuclear reactor are not legally registered in Moldova would make the implementation of the customs seen in Ukrainian election campaign KHMELNYTSKYI – President agreement between Ukraine and Moldova Leonid Kuchma attended the start-up of difficult, Infotag and ITAR-TASS reported. by Taras Kuzio when he was still oblast chairman there, the No. 2 reactor at the Khmelnytskyi “The build-up of a large number of vehicles Eurasia Daily Monitor were falsified. In a conversation taped by nuclear power plant on August 8, at border crossing points will disrupt traffic Mykola Melnychenko between President Ukrainian news agencies reported. across the Transdniester territory and is In late July, the Ukrainian Ministry of Kuchma and Chairman Yanukovych, the Another new reactor at the Rivne nuclear fraught with unpredictable social and eco- Families, Children and Youth unofficially latter said,“Well Leonid Danylovych, a power plant, also in western Ukraine, is nomic consequences,” Infotag quoted Mr. organized a youth forum to rally support miracle does not happen. The boys who set to be completed this year. President Yanukovych as saying. The Ukrainian prime for President Leonid Kuchma’s candidate were put in place fulfilled what was Kuchma upbraided Western countries for minister also said that while the “acts of the in the upcoming presidential elections, asked of them. And, in reality their failure to finance safety upgrades at Transdniester administration violate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Each [Oleksander] Moroz came in third. both reactors with an $83 million loan to European human rights and freedoms,” oblast branch of the ministry received Basically he received 12-13 percent” supplement a $42 million facility from retaliation by economic measures would instructions to organize “delegates” for (Ukrainska Pravda, July 23). Mr. Moroz the European Bank for Reconstruction result in the “further accumulation of prob- the youth rally. was officially given 6 percent in and Development.